Accessibility: Good in dining room; bathrooms are outside restaurant in hallway. A handicap restroom is inside the restaurant.

Grade: * * * *

It comes as something of a shock to discover you can feast on a three-course meal for $24.95 at Giovanni's Ristorante, a luxury Italian eatery in Beachwood. Granted, the deal is offered only on weekdays, and you must be in your seat between 5 and 6 p.m.

Banish the thought, however, of being viewed as an early-birder for ordering it. Throughout this inexpensive meal, the staff remained visible and engaged -- resupplying bread, refreshing water, and catering to small needs. Ordering a Caesar salad, for example, our server asked my wife: "Would the lady enjoy anchovies with that?"

High-quality ingredients are a given; so is technique. Executive Chef Zach Ladner deep-fries a sausage-stuffed ball of cornmeal ("arancini") and beds it on an arugula-caponata salad, producing riotous flavors and textures. The Caesar combines creamy dressing and fresh romaine -- a salty crunch coming from fat croutons and shavings of parmesan.

There is no pinching pennies when it comes to ordering from the regular and "feature" menus. Portions nonetheless are very large and often imaginative. Ladner scatters candied pumpkin seeds across spiced buttermilk cream, for instance, that sat atop delicious butternut-squash-and-pumpkin bisque ($8).

He gilds the lily again by contrasting a cloud of the creamy, fresh cow cheese called burrata with a dollop of sweet tomato jam, decorating the shebang with thin slices of tomatoes and good olive oil ($15). Brilliant!

Buttery sauce with sweet corn and summer squash makes a titanic slab of horseradish-crusted cod that much better ($36). The accompanying gnocchi were merely a reminder of abbondanza, the Italian concept of, "If a little is good, more must be better."

Love pasta? The kitchen's skill with noodles is abundantly evident in every mouthful of al dente pappardelle with braised veal and tomato ragu ($28). It's even better the next day for lunch.

I recommend two desserts from the regular menu. Creme brulee's sugary lid is a pleasure to crack and then scoop up the silky vanilla pudding underneath ($8.95).

As for the rich, dense, and addictive flourless chocolate cake ($8.95), well, "Would the lady or sir like Spanx with that?"

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